Apparatus for multiplying records



D. woLFsoN 2,090,773

APPARATUS FOR MULTIPLYING RECORDS Filed Aug. 16, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 11N VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

mds @Ti w M im Aug. 24, 1937. D. woLFsoN y2,090,773

APPARATUS FOR MULTIPLYING RECORDS Filed Aug. 16, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

BY ATTORNEY.

Aug. 24, 1937. D WOLFSON l APPARATUS FOR MULTIPLYING RECORDS Filed Aug.16, 1955 5 Shees--Sheerl 3 l IZ INVENTOR.

-,z 0W BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 24, 1937 UNlTED STATES means PATENT orrice Claims.

The present improvements relate, in general, to duplicating machines andmore particularly to novel means and methods for multiplying copies froma single master copy.

A primary object of the improvements, among others, is to provide novelapparatus and methods for insuring a maximum. number of perfect copiesfrom a master record.

Another object is to provide a, novel combination of elements which iseconomical to manufacture and operate.

A further object is to provide a device Wherein the master copy ismaintained in fixed position and the sheets to be imprinted are mel5chanically applied thereto. Another object is to provide a novel sheetfeeding and dampening unit for traversing the fixed master copy, and forimpressing a sheet thereon during travel.

Another object of the improvements is: toprovide a platform for holdingthe master copy flatwise thereon and a reciprocating carriage forsupplying and moistening a sheet of paper and thereupon imposing andimpressing the sheet on the master copy. Means for accomplishing thisconcurrently with traverse of the carriage,

constitutes a further object of the invention.

1 The simplification of elements and elimination of parts is a. furtherdesideratum. In this respect it is an object of the improvements toprovide a master roller which is moved by traction across the mastercopy and imparts rotation to feed and moisture rollers, as well ascooperates to propel, dampen, apply and impress a sheet of paper ontothe master copy. Another object is to provide a novel carriage unit foraccomplishing the foregoing functions manually.

Other objects include the provision of novel details o-f constructionand simplied arrangement and combination of parts which contribute todurability, ease of v operation and simplicity.

Further advantages and objects Will be apparent to those skilled in theart upon reference to the accompanying specification and drawings inWhich Figure 1 is a plan view of one form of the present improvements.

Figure 2 is a section through line 2 2 of Figure 1 but with the carriageover the master copy.

Figure 3 is a View similarI to Figure 2 with the 50 carriagel shownimpressing a sheet of paper onto the master copy.

Figure 4 is an end elevation of the carriage on the platform, With partsremoved.

Figure 5 is a modification.

Referring to the drawings, the present embodiment of the improvementsinclude a flat member for supporting the master copy II. Although thisflat member may be of metal or other suitable material, it is preferablymade of glass mounted on a sturdy backing I2 provided with legs I3 forsupporting same. While the glass plate may be mounted in any convenientmanner, without departing from the invention, in the illustratedembodiment, it constitutes a hori- Zontal platform III upon which themaster copy II is fastened latWise as by studs or other anchoring meansI4. As illustrated the master copy II lies atwise over only a portion ofthe platform, although-it may occupy the entire space. f

Means for superimposing a sheet of paper on said master copy II isprovided in a carriage I5 which may be reciprocated across the platformand master copy. The traverse of this carriage is preferably, althoughnot necessarily, facilitated by guideways or tracks IB in the form ofrods extending along vopposite sides of the platfonn I0. Foureye-bearings I'I threaded upon said rods operate to suspend the carriageI5 across and above the platform and master copy. A hand grip I8 on saidcarriage may be grasped for reciprocating said `carriage and bearingsalong said rods and platform.

As illustrated several cylindrical rollers are journaled on carriage I5so as to be elevated or depressed at will. In the present embodimentthree such rollers 20, 2| and 22 are illustrated although the upper feedroller may be dispensed with in some embodiments. The feed roller 2U,the mioistening roller 2I and the compression and impression tractionroller 22 are all maintained in a suspended position above the platformI0. Rotation is imparted to these three rollers by providing meanswhereby the traction and impression roller 22 may be depressed intoicontact with the surface of the platform, whereupon movement of saidcarriage across the platform by pushing handle IB will cause roller 22to rotate by the resulting traction.

Various expedients may be resorted to for suitably mounting the rollers2E), 2| and 22. In the illustrated embodiment a portion of thei carriageis movable relative to the remainder and the rollers are mountedthereon. The movable carriage portion comprises a frame 24 pivoted at 25to the carriage portion I5 having the bearings I l. As more clearly seenin Figure 1, this frame 24 is rectangular, having two opposite shortsides in which the rollers are journaled and two opposite longer sides,one of which has the in 55 24 extends through a bifurcated member 29,andiv a spring 38 engaging collar 3| and member 29 l5 serves to maintainthe frame elevated. However pressure applied to handle I8, will compressspring 38, and permit roller 22 to` contact the platform. Upon releaseof pressure on` the handle, the

spring returns the frame and roller to elevatedy 2O position.

The feed roller 2U and moisture roller 2 I, both smaller than roller 22,are mounted in engagement with roller 22 and derive their rotarymovement therefrom. As more clearly seen in Figure 25 4, the rollers 28and 2| are journaled in inclined bearings 33 and 34 and their trunnionsare engaged by spring clips 35 and 36 which resiliently urge them alongthe inclined bearings for resilie-ntly maintaining them against theroller 22,

The moisture supply means for roller 2| may take various forms. In theembodiment under description, a pan or tank 21 extends across the frameand is inclined slightly toward roller 2|. Felt, waste or other liquidabsorbent 38 is dis- 35 posed in the pan, and has an upturned edgeengaging roller 2| which preferably has a metal surface. A removablekeeper-rod 48 is resiliently maintained against the absorbent edge 39against roller 2| by spring clips 4I.

A removable: receptacle for a supply of paper 45 is provided with legs41 which rest in holes in the carriage I5. A removable gravity chute 48also has legs 49 resting in holes on said carriage. The chute has abottom slot or opening 50 through 45 which the individual sheet 5| isfed by gravity to the rollers. As illustrated, chute 48 is aligned withthe contacting surfaces of rollers 2U and 22 whereby the sheet 5| may befed by gravity into the trough formed by their curved surfaces.l Upon 50rotation of the roller 22 in a counterclockwise direction, rollers 28and 2l rotate in anopposite direction and sheet 5| is gripped betweenrollers 22 and 22 and drawn downwardly until it is gripped betweenmoistening roller 2| and ro-ller 22, whereupon the sheet is moistened onits under side by metal rollery 2| and drawn downwardly toward platformI8, whence it is applied thereon by roller 22, with the moistened facedown.

An apron or shield extends across the frame and protrudes betweenrollers 28 and 2|. 'I'his member protects the upper roller 2U frommoisture from the absorbent on roller 2 I, prevents the absorbent frombeing inadvertently dragged between the rollers, and has a downturned'inner lip which serves to direct the down coming edge of paper 5|between rollers 2| and 22, and prevents improper travel of the sheet.

In operating the illustrated mechanism for practicing the improvedmethods, a master copy 7() is made. This master copy may be produced bymeans of writing, printing or drawing on suitable paper with copyingink, the material toI be copied. Manifestly, this may be accomplished inan ordinary typewriter by taking a sheet of 75 paper and placing beneathsame an inverted sheet of suitable carbon paper, so that the carbon orinked face of the paper is in engagement with the under face of thepaper sheet. Upon disposing these sheets in a typewriter, a duplicatedcopy of the writing is made on the reverse side of the paper sheet inreverse. Therefore, after the desired material is typed, the sheet comesout as a master copy having the proper typing on one face and aduplicate reverse copy on the other face thereof.

This master copy II with the ink characters in reverse is laid flatwiseupon the platform I0 'and held in position by studs I4 (see Figure l).

Asheet of paper 5I is placed in chute 48 and descends by gravity to aposition between rollers 2U and 22 (see Figure 2). Since yieldableconnection 28 keeps roller 22 clear of platform I0, the handle I8 may begrasped and the carriage I5 slidably moved from the position in Figure1, over and clear of the master copy I I, to the fore portion of theplatform, as seen in Figure 2. Obviously the printed material is placedon the master copy in such a position that it will be centered on thesheet 5I when superimposed thereon by the carriage. The absorbent 38 haspreviously been supplied with a highly volatile liquid which may beevenly distributed in a lm of moisture on the periphery of roller 2|, asis common in the art.

An impression or copy is now ready to be made on sheet 5I. The handle I8is depressed and roller 22 is held in engagement with platform I0 andmaster copy (dotted lines position, Figure 4). While thus depressed, thecarriage is pushed along the master copy |I and platform I0, and therotation by traction of roller 22 rotates rollers 20 and 2|. Rollers 22and 28 cooperate to grip and advance the sheet 5I toward the moisteningroller 2| and the latter cooperates with the roller 22 to grip andadvance the sheet toward the master copy II. In doing so, the roller 2|moistens the under face of sheet 5I. As the sheet 5| travels toward themaster copy the location of the moisture roller 2| is such that itcauses the edge of the sheet to extend towards the trough between roller22 and copy II with the result that the sheet 5I is directed under theroller with the moistened face superimposed on the master copy.Continued advance of the carriage causes the rotating roller o 22 toimpress the entire dampened sheet 5I onto the copy II. After every partof the sheet has been thus impressed on the copy and the carriage isfree of the sheet 5 I, handle I8 may be released, whereupon roller 22 israised. The printed sheet 5| may now be lifted off of copy II and laidaside. Another sheet may now be taken from supply 46, placed in chute 48and carriage I5 returned to the fore part of platform I0 for makinganother impression. Accordingly, a copy may be made with each travel ofthe carriage from right to left in Figure 1, the carriage being idleduring return travel from left to right.

The roller 22 is preferably made of resilient material such as rubber,so as to perform more efliciently in its various capacities. This rollerserves as a feed roller in cooperation with roller 2|! and helps to'uniformly moisten the paper by cooperating with roller 2|. Furthermore,the roller 22 guides the paper to the platform and impresses it firmlyagainst the master copy. The resilience of the roller 22 facilitatesthis impression and keeps the sheet steady by taking a purchase on it byfriction, so as to prevent slippage. The roller 22 likewise supplies thepower for rotating the other rollers and does so by the tractionresulting from friction between the roller 22 and the platform and copy.No slipping of the roller or sheet relative to each other or relative tothe copy results from this novel arrangement.

By locating the moisture roller 2| below the axis of roller 22, thesheet 5| is directed toward the under side of roller 22, therebyinsuring its destination. Since the moisture on roller 2| is so highlyvolatile, this roller is positioned at the location illustrated, so thatthe sheet will be freshly moistened immediately before it engages themaster copy. The sheet therefore has no opportunity to dry and fail totake the impression.

In Figure 5, a modified form of moisture means is illustrated. Anabsorbent roller 60 is interposed between the absorbent 38 and moistureroller 2|. This roller 60 obtains moisture from the absorbent 38 andtransfers it to the roller 2| whence it is transferred to the sheets 5|.Otherwise the organization remains the same.

I claim:

1. A duplicating machine comprisingl a platform, a carriage adapted tobe reciprocated across said platform, a feed roller for advancing asheet of paper, and a moisture roller and a compression roller formoistening such sheet and pressing it onto said platform and guard meansassociated with said rollers for shielding one of said rollers frommoisture and guiding the paper.

2. A duplicating machine comprising a platform, a carriage adapted to bereciprocated across said platform, a frame member movable relative tosaid carriage, a compression roller on said frame, a paper feed rollerengaging said compression roller, a moisture roller engaging saidcompression roller, and means for concurrently rotating said rollers assaid carriage is reciprocated and guard means associated with saidrollers for shielding one of said rollers from moisture and guiding thepaper.

3. A traction driven duplicating machine comprising a platform forholding a master copy, gudeways along opposite sides of said platform, acarriage on said guideways and suspended across said platform, a chuteon said carriage for feeding a single sheet to be printed, a receptacleon said carriage for supporting one or more sheets in storage, a rollerdepending from said carriage and yieldably mounted, a tension device forholding said roller above the platform permitting depression of saidroller into engagement with said platform whereby rotation by tractionis imparted to said roller as said carriage is moved along saidplatform, a paper feed roller and a moisture roller driven by said rstnamed roller, said rollers being positioned for directing a moistenedsheet beneath said rst named roller onto said platform as said carriageadvances thereover.

4. A duplicating machine comprising a platform, a reciprocating carriagesuspended over said platform, means on said carriage and movablerelative thereto for applying a sheet to said platform and yieldablemeans connected with said carriage for normally maintaining said movablemeans above said platform, and means for varying the degree ofyieldableness of said yieldable means.

5. A traction driven duplicating machine comprising a platform forholding a master copy, guideways along opposite sides of said platform,a carriage on said guideways and suspended across said platform, aroller depending from said carriage and normally above said platformyieldably mounted, and a tension device permitting depression of saidroller into engagement with said platform whereby rotation by tractionis imparted to said roller as said carriage is moved along saidplatform.

DAVID WOLFSON.

